Nutingka
Background Information Nutingka (/'nʊtɪŋka/) is the sole surviving descendant of Proto-Nutingka, a hypothetical branch of Proto-Indo-European. In an alternate universe, instead of Proto-Italic, there was Proto-Nutingka, and thus the ancient settlers of near and in Italian peninsula spoke this. Years passed and all dialects of Proto-Nutingka but Nutingka died out, most likely because they were not recorded in words while people gradually forgot their vocabularies. In search for a method to document their history and preserve their last hope of a language, in ways not relying on mere speech and memory, the settlers borrowed the alphabet of their more sophisticated neighbours, the Greeks. However, they altered the alphabet to better suit their phonology. Though the Nutingkan word 'alfubit' was derived from Greek 'alphabetos', instead of naming their rendition so after the first two letters, the settlers named it after their first vowel and consonant. As the settlers became more technologically advanced and conquered the Mediterranean, they, who would later be referred to as the 'Nutingkans', acquired so many loanwords from their expanded territory, that in response to the radical changes to their native language, they called their language a 'new tongue', which is what 'Nutingka' means (compare with PIE 'newos' + 'dngwehs'). As you can see, that name stuck, and Nutingka is still referred to as 'Nutingka' to this day. Phonology Consonants Vowels Glides /j/ - palatal approximant (when the letter It is followed by another vowel, and to distinguish between /jɪ/ and /i:/, /jɪ/ is written as two Its and a macron is placed over a single It for /i:/) /w/ - labiodental approximant (similar situation as above, but with the letter Un) Phonotactics Syllables are in the structure ©©©(V)V(V)©©©, meaning that the simplest of syllables is a vowel, and the most complex of syllables allows three consonants for the onset, a triphthong for the nucleus and three consonants for the coda. In order to not divide a syllable further, the first vowel in a triphthong is read like a glide. Writing System Letter Origins In an alternate universe, the letters the Nutingkans needed were invented by them. But here, in this world, I, Popilo, was inspired by several writing scripts. *technically from Latin Q that is repurposed to read /tʃ/, but Q itself descends from Qoppa Orthography *only Romanisation available currently, the alphabet of Nutingka does not have a keyboard **originated as a digraph of Del and Zhel, but it's too cumbersome to write 'dzh' for /dʒ/ ***similar case as above, but as a diphthong of Euthenu and Un, 'y' preferred over 'eu-u' Grammar Nouns Grammatical Case Table The first ending in each cell is a first declension ending and the second ending in each cell is a second declension ending. A singular nominative first declension noun ends with a vowel (hence the added consonant in endings for ease of pronunciation) and a second declension one ends with a consonant. To match the nouns, adjectives have the same endings as the nouns they describe, except for most occasions in the genitive case. This is to elucidate, for example, that a phrase is intending to say 'of the green apple', and not 'of green of apple' nor 'green of apple', as an adjective always precedes a noun. 'Apple', in this case, would either be nominative, accusative or dative in a sentence, depending on how direct it is and whether it's a subject or an object. A similar rule applies to nouns with more than one separate part; only the first part gets the genitive ending. Unlike adjectives, particles do not decline, as they occur too frequently. of the green apple'- 'uiridek malu/maluma/maluti Isaac Newton's'- 'Is''ā''kek Niuteon/Niuteona/Niuteoniti Also, since the accusative and ablative are such prominent cases, here is a table judging which directional indicators or prepositions take which case. Pronouns Here are some tables of pronouns. The locative case is omitted for obvious reasons. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Pronouns are made reflexive with the prefix 'sui-'/'suit-', meaning 'self', First person ('I' and 'we'- treat 'we' as separate from 'I', but still plural): Second person ('you'): Third person ('they'- 'he' or 'she' only derived from context): Verbs Tenses 'Isari' ('to be', where '-ari/-ri' is an infinitive suffix) is the infinitive form of 'is' ('is'). 'Isarid', being the past form of 'isari', means 'been'. Only third person singulars use 'is' and simple present verbs that end with 's'. Only first person singulars may use 'em'. 'Vas' is only shared among the first and third persons. To make a verb an imperative, simply add '-di/-i' when addressing one person, or '-dite/-ite' to many. When describing a verb with an adverb, add '-li' to an adjective. Add '-ing' to make a verb a gerund, but one will rarely have to do this. 'Hapi!', thi dicid, in e konteruelhoning uiama, ueitis.- 'Begone! (lit. preposition 'from', but as an imperative)', he said, in an unwelcoming way, to us. Syntax Sentences follow the structure S-V-O. Lexicon Basic vocabulary (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_vocabulary for comparison): Family: Mother- modar Father- podar Brother- bredar Sister- sisdar Daughter- dedar Son- sun Nephew- nifat Brother in law- defar Daughter in law- snuar Mother in law- suagar People: Person- gemon Man- hanar, bir Woman- guin Pronouns, particles: I- Ig Me (accusative)- Iga Me (dative)- Igiti Mine, my- man, Igek You (nom. sing.)- thu We, us- uei, nus You (nom. and acc. plu.)- ia, iamas Oneself- sui What- kat Who- kiu And, any- et, ka Not, no- non Numbers: Same- hom One- on Two- do Three- trei Four- ket Five- pangk Six- sez Seven- seb Eight- ekht Nine- nin Ten- den Twenty- bingkti Hundred- kint Anatomy: Tear- tiar Tongue- tingka Blood- aim Chin- kin Knee- keni Tooth- don Bone- oz Ear- aus Ear- oko Heart- kor Nose- noz Foot- fod Liver- yepar Animals: Horse- eku Cow- bou Sheep- ouo Bear- uk Dog- kien Mouse- mou Pig- su Wolf- lup Goose- gu Duck- anit Agriculture: Grain- gran Field- akar Plow- arkha Milk (verb or noun)- melk Grind- mil Honey- mel Mead- med Salt- sel To sow, seed- soua, sem Yoke- yug Bodily Functions: Breathe- anim Sleep- suem Sweat- sued Eat- eta Drink- biba Produce- kigna Grow- ogna Live- uika Die- mora States: Hear- klua See- uida Know- ueda Recognize, know- konana, kona Be ignorant of- nonkona Think- menta Declare, say- seka, weka Ask- preka Name- nam Natural Features: Star- astar Day- dier God- deuar Sun- sol Moon- mon Earth- umer Water- uatar Tree- trei Wind- uentar Snow- snekar Fire- fir Warm- uarma Light- luk Adjectives: Mid- medi Big- makhr Heavy- grau Light- lehit Red- rubi Other- ali New- nu Young- iuben Old- sen Naked- nakan Construction: Door- dur House- dom Wheel- sikle Sew- sou Construct- teksa Weave- uiba Work- urga Clothe- uaera Motion: Is- is Become- isarihon Sit- sida Lie down- laekha Bed- keit Stand- standa Go- goa Come- hona Follow- sekua Carry- ber Convey- behia Drive- aga Place- deha Give- dona Grab- kafa Take- khaba Kill- bania Abandon- leiga Time: Yesterday- iisterdier Night- nakht Dawn- ausra Winter- khiem Spring- bar Experienced, last year- ueti, ultueti Year- ier Example text Ig donad igek iubenboum Jonti.- I gave my young cow (=calf) to John. Ig vell dona igek anitam iati.- I will give my duck to you. Ig vell goa had Hellēnesa.- I will go to Greece. In di trensparonot, Deuar kondehad di keilomas et di umera.- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Category:Indo-European conlangs